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Is There a Pigeon in the Room?: My Life in Schools
by Cameron WyllieIs There a Pigeon in the Room? is a deeply personal book about Cameron Wyllie’s remarkable four-decade career in teaching. It’s a tapestry of anecdotes and reflections on topics like drugs, parenting and sex education, laced with stories about memorable individuals. What did he say to the Third Year after drinking too much gin with the Head? Who was Adolf? What happened to the horrible bus driver? While the intention is to make the reader laugh plenty, Cameron also deals with discipline, refugees, tragic events, his own status as a gay man and tells us the story of Tes, an Eritrean boy who inspired hundreds of young people with his love of education. Cameron taught over 8,000 students in his career. Having been once described as ‘the place where Jean Brodie meets Kenneth Williams’ the book also charts the surprising trajectory of a career which culminated in his appointment as Principal of George Heriot’s, one of Edinburgh’s most prestigious schools.
Beyond Bubba: The Life & Times of an Entrepreneur
by Sam Wyly Laurie Matthews Lisa Wyly&“From computers to energy to even my love: restaurants . . . Sam&’s journey reminds us that the American Dream is alive and well.&” —Kimbal Musk, founder and owner of The Kitchen Restaurant Group Known throughout his childhood as &“Bubba,&” Sam Wyly&’s story is one of evolution, connection, and unrelenting optimism. Born in rural Louisiana, Sam&’s humble beginnings may have made him seem an unlikely candidate to become one of the preeminent entrepreneurs of the last century, but his accomplishments speak for themselves. Told with candor and humor, primarily through the lens of his business endeavors, Sam&’s story tracks a lifetime of growth and betterment, as he consistently utilizes what may seem like limitations to his advantage.&“I cannot think of a proper way to salute Sam Wyly. He has accomplished a great deal, and his success has always been accomplished with honor and integrity.&” —George H. W. Bush&“Sam is certainly an amazing visionary, a successful entrepreneur and definitely lives the American dream.&” —Michael Rouleau, former CEO and president of Michaels Stores&“Sam Wyly has been an extraordinary visionary for the long term.&” —John Mackey, founder of Whole Foods&“Spanning four decades and remarkably diverse industries, the career of Sam Wyly—a true original—shows what good ideas, strong will and access to capital can accomplish.&” —Michael Milken, chairman of The Milken Institute
Blue Sky July
by Nia Wyn"My heart has reshaped a thousand broken pieces, and for every moment I still want to heal him there are a thousand when I know he's perfect, exactly as he is"This book will challenge your heart and change your views. Set between the summers of 1998 and 2005 in Cardiff, Blue Sky July is the true story of Nia, whose son Joe suffers a devastating brain injury. Through her intimate day-by-day musings, the book explores the impact of the tragedy on Nia's home life, love life, friendships and connection to the world, as the most extraordinary relationship unfolds between herself and Joe. Lyrical, inspiring and utterly compelling, Nia Wyn's powerful yet acutely sensitive account of her experiences will make an indelible impression on all who read it. A testament to the power of a mother's unconditional love for her son, Blue Sky July is a book that deserves to be read by everyone.
Louis Harold Gray
by Sinclair WynchankThis book is a scientific biography of Louis Harold ("Hal") Gray, FRS (1905-65), a pioneer in radiobiology - a little known science that is nevertheless extremely important since it constitutes the basis of radiotherapy. Hal Gray's work also played a vital role in ensuring that radiography would be a safe procedure for the hundreds of millions of persons in whom X-ray pictures have been taken. The book offers fascinating insights into both the history of radiobiology and the life of Hal. It contains much unique biographical material made available to the author over the past 35 years by Hal's contemporaries, many of whom have since died. Great influences on Hal's life and studies, including his unusual high school, Christ's Hospital, and his firm moral beliefs, are described. But his life was not merely a gentle, cloistered existence in academia. Its ups and downs included events that would not have been out of place in a Hollywood drama. The book, the first biography of Hal, is intended for all who enjoy this genre (including those without a scientific background) or have an interest in the history of radiobiology and radiotherapy.
Stand By Your Man: An Autobiography
by Tammy WynetteWynette, the queen of country western music, tells the inspiring life story of her ascent from rags to riches.
A Theology Of Love: The Dynamic Of Wesleyanism, Second Edition
by Mildred Bangs WynkoopIn this seminal work on holiness Mildred Wynkoop brought to the forefront the understanding that holiness is relational. Here she explains that loving God and loving neighbor find articulate expression in the holy life--a life oriented in dynamic and loving relationship toward God that in turn reaches out and embraces others. A Theology of Love reinvigorated for new generations the meaning of John Wesley's concept of perfect love.Since its publication, A Theology of Love has influenced countless scholars, pastors, teachers, and students. Now in this new edition of the monumental work is included the original text plus a previously unpublished chapter. This enhanced version is the ideal addition to anyone desiring a deeper grasp of the theological insights and contributions of this exceptional scholar, and a provocative exercise in rethinking John Wesley's concept of holiness.In addition to the previously unpublished portion of A Theology of Love, this new edition features additional commentary by Tom Noble, Scott Daniels, Ray Dunning, Diane Leclerc, and David McEwan.
Men of The Battle of Britain: A Biographical Dictionary of the Few
by Kenneth G. WynnSince it was first published in 1989, Men of the Battle of Britain has become a standard reference book for academics and researchers interested in the Battle of Britain. Copies are also owned by many with purely an armchair interest in the events of 1940.The book records the service details of the airmen who took part in the Battle of Britain in considerable detail. Where known, postings and their dates are included, as well as promotions, decorations and successes claimed flying against the enemy. There is also much personal detail, often including dates and places of birth, civilian occupations, dates of death and place of burial or, for those with no known grave, place of commemoration. There are many wartime head-and-shoulders photographs. Inevitably the high achievers who survived tend to have the longest entries, but those who were killed very quickly, sometimes even on their first sortie, are given equal status.The 2015 third edition will include new names and corrected spellings, as well as many new photographs. Plenty of the entries have been extended with freshly acquired information. The stated nationalities of some of the airmen have been re-examined and, for example, one man always considered to be Australian is now known to have been Irish.
Men of the Battle of Britain: A Supplementary Volume
by Kenneth G. Wynn“Tells about various details of data, squadrons, training, life path, passport photos and more. This supplement contains addition for about 350(!) airmen.” —Aviation Book ReviewsSince it was first published in 1989, Men of the Battle of Britain, the complete third edition of which was published in 2015, has become a standard reference book for academics and researchers interested in the Battle of Britain. This remarkable publication records the service details of every airman who took part in the Battle of Britain, and who earned the Battle of Britain Clasp, in considerable detail. Where known, an individual’s various postings and their dates are included, as are promotions, decorations, and successes claimed while flying against the enemy. There is also much personal detail, often including dates and places of birth, civilian occupations, dates of death and place of burial or, for those with no known grave, place of commemoration. There are many wartime head-and-shoulders photographs.Inevitably, the passage of time ensures that there is a constant reevaluation of the wealth of information contained within Men of the Battle of Britain. At the same time, since the 2015 edition it has been possible to expand many individual entries, some 330 in total, to give some idea of the wider social context around the aircrew who earned the Battle of Britain Clasp. This has been achieved by reference to existing sources, including information supplied by The Few themselves and their relatives over many years, as well as new research.This invaluable supplement to the 2015 edition ensures that these additions and revisions are available to all researchers, historians, enthusiasts and general readers.
Against All Odds: Walter Tull the Black Lieutenant
by Stephen WynnWalter Tull would have been a remarkable individual no matter when he had been born, but to achieve what he did, during the time that he did, makes him even more remarkable. He was an orphan at just six years of age, and despite not wanting to, his step mother, Clara, had no choice but to place him and his elder brother, Edward, in to a children's home in the East End of London. As neither Walter or Edward had ever traveled outside of Folkestone before, the upheaval must have come as quite a shock. Two years after entering the home, Walter and Edward were split up when Edward was adopted and went to live in Glasgow.Walter's sporting prowess saw him play for top local amateur side, Clapton Football club, signing for them in 1908, but it was to be a short lived affair, as by the following year he had signed as a professional for the prestigious Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, making his first team debut against Manchester United.In October 1911 Walter was transferred to Northampton Town Football Club, where he would go on to play over one hundred first team games, before the First World War brought a premature end to his career as a professional footballer. With the outbreak of war, Walter wasted no time enlisting in the British Army, initially as a Private in the newly formed 17th (Football) Battalion, Middlesex Regiment. Further promotions followed and in no time at all he had reached the rank of Sergeant.He was put forward for a commission and passed out as a 2nd Lieutenant on 29 May 1917. He went on to become the first black officer in the British Army, to lead white troops in to battle, and was fondly regarded by the men who served under him.Walter was killed in action whilst leading his men in a counter attack against German defensive positions on Monday 25 March 1918. He died a hero. He was well liked and respected by all who knew him. Like many men of his generation his life was cut short for the greater good whilst in the service of his country, so that others might prevail.
Churchill's Flawed Decisions: Errors in Office of The Greatest Briton
by Stephen WynnWinston Churchill is undoubtedly one of the most respected and best-loved characters the nation has ever known. However, much of how people view him is based on his leadership during the bleak and dire times of the Second World War. If it wasn’t for him, Britain would almost definitely have lost the war: there were those in government who encouraged Churchill to strike a deal with Hitler at the time of the Dunkirk evacuations, which took place just three weeks after he had been made Prime Minister, but he stuck resolutely to his guns and said, ‘no’. However, Churchill was never the favorite to take over after Neville Chamberlain resigned. Indeed, everyone believed Lord Halifax would be the next Prime Minister, although even he thankfully recognized that Winston Churchill was the best man for the job, even though King George VI disagreed. Yet there was another side to Churchill that is not often spoken of, and one that led to him making some questionable decisions. Some of these, it could be argued, were for national security reasons, but others were not, proving that even the very best are not always as perfect as they first appear.
Joachim Peiper and the Nazi Atrocities of 1944
by Stephen WynnJoachim Peiper held the rank of Obersturmbannführer in Nazi Germany’s fanatical Schutzstaffel, more commonly referred to as the SS. He spent the first two years of the war as an adjutant to the Reichsführer of the Schutzstaffel, and leading member of the Nazi Party, Heinrich Himmler, where he would have witnessed at first hand the construction and implementation of numerous SS policies, many of which would have been in relation to ethnic cleansing and the Holocaust. In October 1941, having yearned for a chance at combat, he changed roles and became a commander in the Waffen-SS, although he still remained in regular contact with Himmler. As a member of the 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte, he saw service in the Soviet Union, Italy and Belgium. On 19 September 1943, he and his men were responsible for the murder of twenty-four Italian civilians at the village of Boves. On 17 December 1944, men under his command were responsible for what became known as the Malmedy massacre, involving the murder of eighty-four unarmed American prisoners of war. Following this, between 17 and 20 December, Peiper and his men were involved in the murder of a number of other American soldiers, as well as Belgian civilians. Peiper was never charged with the atrocities at Boves, but in 1946 he faced an American military tribunal for the Malmedy masssacre. Although found guilty and sentenced to death, his sentence was reduced to life imprisonment but he was eventually released in 1956. In 1972, Peiper moved to the French village of Troves in north east France. On 14 July 1976, his home was attacked and set on fire. Overcome by smoke, he died in the flames.
VCs of the Second World War: Ten Stories of Bravery & Courage
by Stephen WynnDramatic accounts of ten Victoria Cross recipients and what they did to earn this highest of honors during WWII.During the Second World War, the Victoria Cross—the highest honor to be given to British or Commonwealth forces—was awarded on 182 occasions to 181 recipients, 85 of which were bestowed posthumously.Presented here are ten examples of those who showed the utmost gallantry and bravery “in the presence of the enemy,” with each individual case and the circumstances in which the award was won examined in close detail. One example is the story of Charles Upham, 2nd Division, New Zealand Expedition Force, who was the only recipient of two Victoria Crosses: the first awarded during the Battle of Crete in 1941, and the second during fighting at El Ruweisat Ridge, Egypt, in 1942. Others include Premindra Singh Bhagat of the Indian Army, who rapidly cleared fifteen minefields despite close enemy fire and personal injury, and RAF pilot Leonard Cheshire, who received the honor after his fourth tour of duty. These and other rousing and dramatic stories are true profiles in courage.
The Man Who Punched Jefferson Davis: The Political Life of Henry S. Foote, Southern Unionist (Southern Biography Series)
by Ben WynneRegarded as one of the most vocal, well-traveled, and controversial statesmen of the nineteenth century, antebellum politician Henry Stuart Foote played a central role in a vast array of pivotal events. Despite Foote’s unique mark on history, until now no comprehensive biography existed. Ben Wynne fills this gap in his examination of the life of this gifted and volatile public figure in The Man Who Punched Jefferson Davis: The Political Life of Henry S. Foote, Southern Unionist.An eyewitness to many of the historical events of his lifetime, Foote, an opinionated native Virginian, helped to raise money for the Texas Revolution, provided political counsel for the Lone Star Republic’s leadership before annexation, and published a 400-page history of the region. In 1847, Mississippi elected him to the Senate, where he promoted cooperation with the North during the Compromise of 1850. One of the South’s most outspoken Unionists, he infuriated many of his southern colleagues with his explosive temperament and unorthodox ideas that quickly established him as a political outsider. His temper sometimes led to physical altercations, including at least five duels, pulling a gun on fellow senator Thomas Hart Benton during a legislative session, and engaging in run-ins with other politicians—notably a fistfight with his worst political enemy, Jefferson Davis. He left the Senate in 1851 to run for governor of Mississippi on a pro-Union platform and defeated Davis by a small margin. Several years later, Foote moved to Nashville, was elected to the Confederate Congress after Tennessee seceded, and continued his political sparring with the Confederate president.From Foote’s failed attempt to broker an unauthorized peace agreement with the Lincoln government and his exile to Europe to the publication of his personal memoir and his appointment as director of the United States mint in New Orleans, Wynne constructs an entertaining and nuanced portrait of a singular man who constantly challenged the conventions of southern and national politics.
I Was Vermeer: The Rise and Fall of the Twentieth Century's Greatest Forger
by Frank WynneIn 1945, a small-time Dutch art dealer was arrested for selling a priceless national treasure--a painting by Vermeer--to the Nazi commander Hermann Göring. The charge was treason; the only possible sentence, death. And yet Han van Meegeren languished in his dank prison cell, incapable of uttering the four simple words that would set him free: "I am a forger." I Was Vermeer is the outrageous true story of one of the greatest art forgers of all time. From his early childhood, Han had dreamed of being an artist, but in the electrifying world of modern art, critics ridiculed his art as hopelessly old-fashioned. Furious and embittered, he turned to forgery--and became a secret superstar of the art world. In his heyday as a forger, he earned the equivalent of fifty million dollars and the acclaim of the world's press, and saw his paintings hung alongside those of Rembrandt and Vermeer. The acceptance of his work was so complete that when he finally confessed, no one believed him--until, in a huge media event, the courts staged the public painting of what would be van Meegeren's last "Vermeer." Frank Wynne's gripping book exposes the life and techniques of the consummate forger, the fascinating work of the experts who try to track down the fakes, and the collusion and ego in the art establishment that, even today, allow forgery to thrive. Wry, surprising, and with the drive of a thriller, it is the first major book in forty years on this extraordinary episode in history. A real page-turner! FRANK WYNNE is a journalist and literary translator. He was awarded the 2002 IMPAC Prize for his translation of Michel Houellebecq's The Elementary Particles, and the 2005 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize for his translation of Frédéric Beigbeder's Windows on the World. He has also translated the work of Pierre Mérot, Philippe Besson, and Ahmadou Kourouma. He has written for the Sunday Times, the Independent, the Irish Times, Melody Maker, and Time Out. Born in Ireland, he is currently based in London.
The Impostor: A True Story (Maclehose Press Editions )
by Frank Wynne Javier CercasFrom the award-winning author of Soldiers of Salamis, a propulsive and riveting narrative investigation into an infamous fraud: a man who has been lying his entire life. <P><P>Who is Enric Marco? An elderly man in his nineties, living in Barcelona, a Holocaust survivor who gave hundreds of speeches, granted dozens of interviews, received important national honors, and even moved government officials to tears. <P><P>But in May 2005, Marco was exposed as a fraud: he was never in a Nazi concentration camp. The story was reported around the world, transforming him from hero to villain in the blink of an eye. Now, more than a decade later--in a hypnotic narrative that combines fiction and nonfiction, detective story and war story, biography and autobiography--Javier Cercas sets out to unravel Marco's enigma. <P><P>With both profound compassion and lacerating honesty, Cercas takes the reader on a journey not only into one man's gigantic lie, but also--through its exploration of our infinite capacity for self-deception, our opposing needs for fantasy and reality, our appetite for affection--into the deepest, most flawed parts of our humanity.
Black Smoke: Healing and Ayahuasca Shamanism in the Amazon
by Margaret De WysA diagnosis of cancer leads to healing and transformation in the Amazon jungle • Explains in vivid detail De Wys’s experience of being healed from cancer through visionary ayahuasca rituals in Ecuador • Describes her apprenticeship and relationship with the shaman who cured her • Explores the ways this spiritual medicine can heal the emotional origins of disease now plaguing our modern technological culture • Chosen as one of the “Top 10 Books of the New Edge” by Jonathan Talat Phillips on The Huffington Post When composer and Bard College music professor Margaret De Wys learned she had breast cancer, the diagnosis shattered her comfortable life. Seized by fear, crushed by existential loneliness, she couldn’t respond when her loved ones reached out to her. To everyone’s concern, the illness propelled her away from her family and deep into the Amazon to work with Carlos, a charismatic Shuar shaman and master of medicina milenaria, an ancient mystical tradition with a highly sophisticated and precise technology of healing. In Black Smoke, De Wys writes of her amazing encounter with Carlos as he guided her into a world of potent visionary plants, harrowing initiations, ritual purification, and miraculous healings, including the complete disappearance of her cancer. It was, as Carlos called it, “the path of the warrior.” Sharing a journey not only through cancer but also through self-transformation, De Wys provides an intimate inside look at the shamanic ceremonies of ayahuasca and the ways this spiritual medicine can heal the emotional origins of disease now plaguing our modern technological culture. Capturing her physical, emotional, and “holy voyage” through a world that differs vastly from our own in its perception of healing and wholeness, she offers a revealing chronicle of spiritual insight and a trenchant exploration of the limits of idealism. She not only provides a probing look at how our society can learn and benefit from indigenous wisdom but also weaves a cautionary tale about how potentially dangerous it is--on both sides--to try to cross those frontiers.
Ecstatic Healing: A Journey into the Shamanic World of Spirit Possession and Miraculous Medicine
by Margaret De WysUnderstanding ecstatic spirit possession for physical and spiritual healing • Details the author’s direct experiences working with Brazilian miracle healer John of God (João de Deus) and African high shaman Credo Mutwa • Includes stories of psychic surgery, spirit possession, and shamanic healing rituals • Explains how each of us is capable of miraculous healing Margaret De Wys first became aware of ecstatic trance healing when she was a young girl fascinated by the rapture of the Holy Rollers. However, it would be decades before she would be called to explore that early fascination. At a gathering in Upstate New York thirty years later she was spontaneously possessed by a sacred Zulu necklace--a gift from one of the most powerful shamans in Africa, Vusamazulu Credo Mutwa. Frightening yet exhilarating, the experience set her on a search to understand the depths of ecstatic healing. Margaret journeys to Brazil to work with famous healer John of God (João de Deus), where she witnesses hundreds of miraculous healings through psychic surgery. During her years of spiritual service at John’s Casa, she experiences ecstatic visions, which increase her hunger for more knowledge. She begins to attend possession rituals held by Pai Lazaro, an Umbanda priest, and finds she is a natural medium to the African gods. Called through her dreams to work with Credo Mutwa, she travels to Credo’s Healing Village in Africa, where she discovers her gift as an ecstatic healer and the meaning of true faith. In sharing her journey to reach a profound understanding of ecstatic states and shamanic healing, Margaret De Wys not only gives the reader a direct experience of holiness but also reveals the potential each of us has for miraculous healing.
Artists in Residence: Seventeen Artists and Their Living Spaces, from Giverny to Casa Azul
by Melissa WyseArtists in Residence explores the homes of 17 legendary and contemporary artists.Readers can peek inside Georgia O'Keeffe's adobe courtyards, stroll through Henri Matisse's vibrant aviary, and peruse Jean-Michel Basquiat's collection of over 1,000 videotapes.A house or an apartment is not simply a place to eat and sleep for these artists; they transform quotidian spaces into dynamic reflections of their individual artistic preoccupations.• Offers a fascinating and inspiring blend of art history, interior design, and travel• Invites readers to peer behind the closed doors of top artists from around the world• Richly illustrated throughoutThrough vivid text and image, Artists in Residence explores how each artist's living space relates to their individual and distinct artist practice.Readers gain a deeper appreciation of their favorite artists' work, and perhaps discover a new favorite visual along the way.• This petite jacketed hardcover book makes a wonderful gift for artists and art fans everywhere.
Hiding Places: A Mother, a Daughter, an Uncovered Life (Excelsior Editions)
by Diane WyshogrodFinalist for the 2013 Montaigne Medal presented by Hopewell PublicationsWhat's it like to spend sixteen months in hiding, crouching in a tiny cellar, during the dark years of World War II? To know that many of your friends and relatives have either been shot or sent to concentration camps? To have your life depend on the humanity of an elderly Christian couple who lets you hide under their floor? What if you knew it had been your mother crouching under that floor? Wouldn't you wonder how she stood it? How it felt? What it did to her? And how it all affected you? In Hiding Places, Diane Wyshogrod traces the process of discovery and self-discovery as she researched the experiences of her mother, Helen Rosenberg, who as a teenager hid in just such a cellar, in Zółkiew, Poland. The narrative, which moves between New York, pre-war and wartime Poland, and Jerusalem, is based on many hours of recorded interviews and covers Helen's life before, during, and after World War II.Although Wyshogrod's original intention was simply to record her mother's experiences, piecing the narrative together proved difficult: there were numerous gaps, things her mother could (or would) no longer remember, and other things her daughter just couldn't comprehend. To fill in these gaps, Wyshogrod draws from all the facets of her identity—writer, clinical psychologist, daughter, mother—in an attempt not only to understand her mother's experiences, but to find out why it is so important for her (and for us) to make that attempt in the first place.
Two Foot Fred: How My Life Has Come Full Circle
by Lisa Wysocky Fred GillCountry music celebrity Two Foot Fred shares his story of living with dwarfism, overcoming odds, and finding peace and success with a positive attitude. Despite his physical limitations from birth--a form of dwarfism known as diastrophic dysplasia, a cleft palate, clubfeet, and scoliosis--Fred Gill rose above his circumstances to graduate college and open his first restaurant by the young age of twenty-two. In 1998, Fred took what proved to be a life-changing trip to Nashville during the city's annual country music celebration, where he met John Rich. That fateful meeting led to a regular job as Ambassador of Attractions for the band Big & Rich, as well as to numerous country music award shows and other television programs. But while his successes are many, Fred has had more than his share of challenges, including "a quarter-life crisis" and troubles with depression, alcohol, and gambling. Like many other celebrities, Fred worked to find peace, turning to his small-town upbringing for solace and affirmation. Two Foot Fred shows that nothing can defeat you unless you allow it to, and that our lives are simply what we make of them.
Two Foot Fred
by Lisa Wysocky Fred GillCountry music celebrity Two Foot Fred shares his story of living with dwarfism, overcoming odds, and finding peace and success with a positive attitude. Despite his physical limitations from birth--a form of dwarfism known as diastrophic dysplasia, a cleft palate, clubfeet, and scoliosis--Fred Gill rose above his circumstances to graduate college and open his first restaurant by the young age of twenty-two. In 1998, Fred took what proved to be a life-changing trip to Nashville during the city's annual country music celebration, where he met John Rich. That fateful meeting led to a regular job as Ambassador of Attractions for the band Big & Rich, as well as to numerous country music award shows and other television programs. But while his successes are many, Fred has had more than his share of challenges, including "a quarter-life crisis" and troubles with depression, alcohol, and gambling. Like many other celebrities, Fred worked to find peace, turning to his small-town upbringing for solace and affirmation. Two Foot Fred shows that nothing can defeat you unless you allow it to, and that our lives are simply what we make of them.
Hidden Girl: The True Story of a Modern-Day Child Slave
by Lisa Wysocky Shyima HallAn inspiring and compelling memoir from a young woman who lost her childhood to slavery--and built a new life grounded in determination and justice.When Shyima Hall was eight years old, her impoverished parents sold her to pay a debt. Two years later, the wealthy family she was sold to moved to Orange County, California, and smuggled her with them. Shyima served the family eighteen hours a day, seven days a week until she was twelve. That's when an anonymous call from a neighbor brought about the end of Shyima's servitude--but her journey to true freedom was far from over. A volunteer at her local police department since she was a teenager, Shyima is passionate about helping to rescue others who are in bondage. Now a US citizen, she regularly speaks out about human trafficking and intends to one day become an immigration officer. In Hidden Girl, Shyima "commands unfailing interest, sympathy, and respect" (Publishers Weekly), candidly reveals how she overcame her harrowing circumstances, and brings vital awareness to a timely and relevant topic.
Hidden Girl
by Lisa Wysocky Shyima HallAn inspiring and compelling memoir from a young woman who lost her childhood to slavery--and built a new life grounded in determination and justice.Shyima Hall was born in Egypt on September 29, 1989, the seventh child of desperately poor parents. When she was eight, her parents sold her into slavery. Shyima then moved two hours away to Egypt's capitol city of Cairo to live with a wealthy family and serve them eighteen hours a day, seven days a week. When she was ten, her captors moved to Orange County, California, and smuggled Shyima with them. Two years later, an anonymous call from a neighbor brought about the end of Shyima's servitude--but her journey to true freedom was far from over. A volunteer at her local police department since she was a teenager, Shyima is passionate about helping to rescue others who are in bondage. Now a US citizen, she regularly speaks out about human trafficking and intends to one day become an immigration officer. In Hidden Girl, Shyima candidly reveals how she overcame her harrowing circumstances and brings vital awareness to a timely and relevant topic.
The Man Who Built the Sierra Club: A Life of David Brower
by Robert WyssDavid Brower (1912–2000) was a central figure in the modern environmental movement. His leadership, vision, and elegant conception of the wilderness forever changed how we approach nature. In many ways, he was a twentieth-century Thoreau. Brower transformed the Sierra Club into a national force that challenged and stopped federally sponsored projects that would have dammed the Grand Canyon and destroyed hundreds of millions of acres of our nation's wilderness. To admirers, he was tireless, passionate, visionary, and unyielding. To opponents and even some supporters, he was contentious and polarizing.As a young man growing up in Berkeley, California, Brower proved himself a fearless climber of the Sierra Nevada's dangerous peaks. After serving in the Tenth Mountain Division during World War II, he became executive director of the Sierra Club. This uncompromising biography explores Brower's role as steward of the modern environmental movement. His passionate advocacy destroyed lifelong friendships and, at times, threatened his goals. Yet his achievements remain some of the most important triumphs of the conservation movement. What emerges from this unique portrait is a rich and robust profile of a leader who took up the work of John Muir and, along with Rachel Carson, made environmentalism the cause of our time.
The Wedding: A Family's Coming Out Story
by Douglas Wythe Andrew Merling Roslyn Merling Sheldon Merling<p>Two people meet and fall in love. Over time, their relationship grows and they decide to spend the rest of their lives together. They plan a wedding, a formal binding into a permanent relationship with family and friends on hand as witnesses to solemn but beautiful vows. It's an occasion people dream about for most of their lives, though it is often joked that the wedding is more for the parents than the children. <p>But what if they''re gay? Andrew Merling was a graduate student in clinical psychology when he met Doug Wythe, a television promotion director. Their relationship continued for three-and-a-half years before Doug formally proposed marriage to Andrew. Together, they agreed to have a traditional affair for family and friends. While Doug was not as close to his extended family, Andrew came from large, tight-knit Jewish family in Montreal. When he announced his engagement and the couple's plans for a traditional Jewish ceremony and a festive celebration, it was then that previously unacknowledged prejudices and hidden concerns suddenly reared their contentious heads. Typical wedding conflicts over money and manners paled next to worries over whether Andrew''s parents would find themselves ostracized by their conservative community. <p>Then, just two months before the big day, the family had to decide if they were ready to perform the ultimate act of "coming out," when ABC-TV News asked to profile them as part of an episode on Turning Point, and bring national attention to their personal struggle. The first book to speak to both sides of a controversy that is altering our society, this fascinating chronicle follows Doug, Andrew, and his parents Sheldon and Roslyn on the rocky road from engagement to understanding. With the impending wedding as a catalyst, they embark on a painful, joyful odyssey of discovery, struggling both to be heard and to find acceptance from each other, their friends and communities. Their four distinct voices blend to create a unique depiction of one family coming to grips with the reality of being a gay couple in today's world.</p>